Iraq, Morocco deploy T-6 trainers Hawker Beechcraft said at Farnborough Air Show today that it has delivered the first eight Beechcraft T-6A military trainers ordered by the Iraqi air force, with seven more due by year end, and has rolled out the first of 24 T-6C trainers ordered by the Moroccan air force. Iraq's initial order for seven of the primary trainers was received in August 2009. An order for eight additional units followed the next month, and first delivery in December. “The T-6A will prepare Iraqi pilots to transition into 21st century aircraft that are considerably more complex than the equipment they previously employed,” says Jim Maslowski, president of US and international government business at Hawker Beechcraft. Rights groups concerned over Algerian US detainees Human rights groups voiced their concerns after the U.S. Defense Department released two Guantanamo inmates, sending one detainee to Algeria against his will. Voicing their opposition, the rights groups said that Abdul Aziz Naji, before being arrested in Pakistan in 2002, had run away from Algeria amid fears that he could face persecution from terrorist groups and the government. He will be the first involuntary transfer from prison under the Obama government. Tunisia: Huge Oil Exploration Platform Receives Maintenance Work in Zarzis A huge American oil exploration platform dubbed “Ensco85â-' belonging to the International Offshore Company “ENSCO”, is being maintained in the commercial port of Zarzis in the governorate of Medenine. The oil exploration platform which arrived in Zarzis in June will remain there for maintenance works for a period of some 8 or 10 weeks. The platform which is 120 meters high, is also 90 meters long and 61 meters wide. The platform crew is composed of about 50 engineers, technicians and sailors of different nationalities. Denials of BP/Libya conundrum The foreign secretary, William Hague, has rejected allegations that the Lockerbie bomber was released to ease deals for BP, a potential irritant in David Cameron's first visit to Washington as prime minister this week. Hague wrote to his US counterpart, Hillary Clinton, yesterday after a phone conversation the day before, in the wake of US senators opening up a fresh front against BP after the oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. The Senate foreign relations committee has scheduled a 29 July hearing on possible ties between BP and the release by the Scottish executive of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the Libyan intelligence officer who was the only person convicted of bombing Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie in 1988, killing 270 people. Sudan: HD Center Brokers Agreement on Children in Darfur Representatives of the United Nations and the Sudanese opposition movement, the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), will sign an historic Agreement on the protection of children in the Darfur conflict on Wednesday 21 July. The UNICEF Director for Sudan, Nils Kastberg will attend the event, hosted by the Geneva based independent mediation organization the Center for Humanitarian Dialogue, otherwise known as the HD Centre. BM
